The rules are simple. Write for five minutes. Stop. Link up. Encourage the person before you in the link up. :) Easy enough eh? This week the word is PLAN.

1113 p.m. 3, 2, 1, Go

So when I think of the word plan what immediately pops into my head is how everyone in the homeschooling world seems to follow a planner. They get their children following one as well. Or at least that's how it seems. Plan, plan, plan.

I have to admit... I STRUGGLE in this area. When I plan, I feel locked into it and then I get so disheartened when life doesn't happen like I want it to.

Seems silly.

Other people seem to thrive on it planning.

So why can't I?

I guess it's all in the way God programs us right? And I have to keep remembering that God has my whole life figured out. He's done the planning for me.

He knows when I get up and when I lie down. He knows my worries, thoughts, fears, insecurities. He knows my joys, and good moments too.

And knowing that I shouldn't feel insecure.

But still I do you know? When I take my eyes off him and I look at what others are doing and how I so often, just fall short. Yeah... I can make myself look good. But I don't see that right? I see how .. we started our Canadian studies this year with great intentions... and how geography with art became a flop. How I wasn't sure how this GPA math thing would work as it's so organized But how my boy loves doing it. He knows what to do and what to expect and he likes that.

I'm feeling pulled to plan more with/for him as it suits HIM to be planned.

But I don't know how to make it work for both of us.

You all have any thoughts????

And it's 1118...there's my five minutes.

Please do give me your thoughts if you have them.... I want to figure it out. :)

I like to have a plan for what's happening and what we're going to do during the day. I did buy a curriculum plan along with our curriculum, and I used it regularly when we started homeschooling but now I only glance at it about once a week. It was a good way to help me get started and figure out what to do. Now that I know what to do, routine has taken over the plan, if that makes sense. :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

annette @ A net In Time

3/13/2015 08:44:18 am

I guess our problem is we don't have a routine. We have things we do regularly but there is really no routine to it all... our days vary so much overall. :)

Thought-provoking post! I like planning, myself, but we don't always get done what we planned. It sounds like you need a very simple plan so it's not too overwhelming for you, but still gives him some security. Routine is nice for us, especially with young children. It gives a basic order to the day without tying you to specific times. I "anchor" things in my routine to things that always happen, no matter what (for example, meals). For example, after breakfast, we always read the Bible, review our memory work, pray, and do our chores. But that's us...and we rarely leave home, unlike most people. :) And that's the thing, you can always get discouraged when you compare your weaknesses with other peoples' strengths, right?

annette @ A net in Time

3/15/2015 09:53:21 am

how do you handle not getting things done? do you find it stressful or just go "ah well, do that another day?"

To be perfectly honest, that last thing. :) I tend to be pretty laid back about things.
There were a few things on my checklist last term that never got done, and I realize now I just shouldn't have put them on the checklist. For example, I knew I was having a baby and wouldn't be going outside for nature study. That's something that will happen a lot more once summer comes. But I still had it on the checklist and was disappointed in myself when I could never check it off. So silly of me.

I WANT to be a planner. When I have a plan, I feel so much more relaxed. Things get done, kids get schooled, meals get made. But I tend to fail at putting the plan together. And then if I fall behind, I feel like a guilty failure and quit lol. Planning - great in theory, hard in reality.

annette @ A net in time

3/21/2015 08:06:50 am

HA! so I'm not the only one. :) It's that whole not doing what's on the list that kills me every single time.

annette @ A net in time

3/21/2015 08:09:07 am

nelleke... I think we all get hung up on the "but I didn't get this done" Even if we have a good reason for NOT getting it done. I just get hung up too much I think.